About Me

I am happily married to the most wonderful man I ever took a chance on. I enjoy time spent in the kitchen - it relaxes me.
As someone pointed out to me, the kitchen is often the heart of the home. It is in ours.

Mr. & Mrs. Potts!

Established November 8, 2008

This started as a way to chronicle my love of all things food - grocery shopping, cooking stores, recipes, baking, cooking and experimenting.

I found that however much I love food, there are other things that occupy my time/thoughts. Some serious - God, family, health, love and more. Other thoughts are definitely not serious - fashion, cosmetics, moisturizers, conditioner and perhaps even my search for the perfect pair of running shoes.

Why share all this with "strangers"? My husband, Mr. Potts, tells me I am a chatty Cathy something akin to a wind up doll where you pull the string and the chatting starts. He appreciates the fact that I choose to spare him (sometimes) all these random thoughts. Yet, he also benefits from my musings on food and my experiments in our kitchen.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Last night I made my third "new to us" meal and was thrilled with the results.

I'm a HUGE lover of sandwiches: Philly Cheese, Reuben's, Pastrami on Rye, Beef on Wec, etc. When I ran across a recipe for Steak & Cheese Sandwiches (which also had mushrooms in them, but I took that out because..EWW!) I knew these had to come into play this week.

I followed the recipe almost to a t - obviously I left out the mushrooms, I added a bit more Worcestershire Sauce and used more onion/pepper than it called for (I used a full onion & pepper each).

To go along with them, I made the homemade potato chips. To season them, I used cracked black pepper, a little garlic & one of the salts I won from Mrs. Life Accounts forever ago. How awesome are these salts??? I love them!

I learned from the last batch & gave myself more time to cook them. This allowed me not to broil them to make them, "Hurry up & get ready!". The broiling last time may have resulted in us losing a few. But only a few!

I also tried to make a cheese dip - which didn't turn out so hot. I just kind of winged it & we could tell. Anyone have a good way to make a cheese dip that will hold up to thinly sliced, baked potato chips?

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

And yes, I know that it is spelled "Divine", but I had to do something to show you how wonderful it was.

I, as always, made some modifications. I added a little chicken, I threw in some black beans, I used frozen corn that had a Southwestern flavor.

In the pan - notice the dented side? Yes, I need some new pans.

Close up - look at the chicken, the black beans, the corn & the red peppers. I love the color of this dish!Side Note: If anyone would like to recommend a camera that will take better pictures than my old Cannon Powershot (point & shoot) that will not break the bank, I'll gladly take those recommendations.

The highlight of the night was not the food, however. It was spending time with Mr. Potts in the kitchen while he stirred the rice (short grain brown, takes a little longer to cook than the recipe calls for) and I chopped the peppers and chickens.

We talked about our days. We laughed about MOTY - my brother recently said she was living her dream life of being a donut maker. You had to be there, it was a hilarious comment.

We talked about his new Kindle that came in the mail yesterday (part of his 35 for 35).

I'm ready for fall. I get a good taste of it when I'm in New England, but then I come home & it is 90+ degrees. I get to wear sweaters one week and short sleeves the next.

Driving to work this morning, there was a man waiting to cross the street in jeans, a turtleneck and his leather coat. Guess he's ready for fall too.

These stockings help, but they are so ugly. They were great in Vermont last week while I was standing & at the end of the day, my legs don't hurt as badly, but yeesh, they're ugly! And when I take them off I suppose the blood all rushes for my legs which makes them tingle.

We've all got these random thoughts that run around in our heads - at least, I hope I'm not the only one.

Monday, September 20, 2010

The county fair was in town the last week and a half. Since I was out of town last week, Mr. Potts & I took the munchkins this weekend.

And they had the best time. My nephew kept telling me that it was the best day he'd ever had in his WHOLE life (he'll be 4 in January, so he has tons to compare it to).

**On a side note, why is there no sarcastic font. Or a way to show how important things are to a kid?**

We went through a petting area and petted the animals. The kids loved it & Mr. Potts even got in on the petting and feeding action.

Pure happiness, I tell you!Such a fuzzy llama.We ate fair food because nothing is better than a corn dog & lemonade for dinner.

We rode fair rides. The munchkins were thrilled and squealed & oohed & ahhed.Mr. Potts even volunteered to ride the last ride of the night with them.The fair was a success.We also went to the Panthers' game yesterday afternoon. I won't bore you with the details of the game (it was sad), but I will tell you that at 90 + degrees, I swear I sweated off 5lbs yesterday.

Certainly not the highlight of our weekend. The kids and the fair take that spot!

Friday, September 17, 2010

I'm back from Vermont after a whirlwind week. I ate some greatfood & had two good sessions up there.

I also snapped a few pictures that I knew I had to share.

How cute is this guy? He apparently gets ridden around Church Street in Burlington on his owner's bike. What a way to travel!

I snapped these pictures yesterday morning at around 6am. The sun was rising & was so so pretty from the seat of my plane.

And for anyone who travels on small planes, 5:30am is not the time to start an argument with a tired business traveler. Instead of arguing with you about your ability to store your stuff under the seat (in MY SPACE) instead of in the overhead (which is where it goes if you're in the bulkhead), I'll hit that "Flight Attendant" button & have them tell you to move your stuff rather than deal with you.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

This past Sunday Mr. Potts and I were enjoying a quiet afternoon. I was dozing off while he was watching the Panthers (lose badly) and keeping track of his Fantasy Football team.

I was woken up by our doorbell ringing sharply. It wasn't the leisurely ring of a neighbor bringing over freshly made cookies or bread (wish that actually happened!); it was a sharp ring of panic.

I pulled my blanket over my head and started to doze back off when he came bounding back up the stairs, grabbed the fire extinguisher and told me to call 911 - our next door neighbor's unit was on fire.

I grabbed our phone and went out on the deck. Smoke was pouring out of her front door and I saw Mr. Potts and two of our neighbors run into her home. They came back out very quickly while I tried to answer the questions the 911 operator was asking me.

Sirens were roaring in the distance while our courtyard filled with smoke.

Neighbors were coming out of their homes, coming together in the courtyard to comfort our neighbor.

Two fire engines pulled up & while they unrolled the hoses, Mr. Potts was talking to them about what happened. After one of our neighbors sprayed the fire, it apparently rolled up from her stove which set off the sprinklers.

Her home was safe, albeit with a bit of water damage.

We have a bit of water damage to our garage wall where the water leaked through from her unit.

No one was hurt.

In the aftermath, our neighbors gathered to talk and commiserate. We began to get to know each other.

Our neighbor will need new cabinets, but there was no life lost & no one was hurt.

That evening we opened up and laughed. We learned a little more about each other. And we made plans to do more things as a neighborhood.

I hugged my neighbor and told her that she should never hesitate to ring our doorbell. She looked slightly abashed and told me that she never wanted to bother anyone.

I hope she knows now that it isn't a bother. That's what our neighborhood should be about.

Getting ready for bed that night, I looked at Mr. Potts and asked what he would grab if that were to happen to us.

He looked around and said he'd make sure to save our babes.

We laughed & talked about how we need a sign. Hayden would never hesitate to go with someone. Pepe Cat? Well, the sign would read something like this:

"Fluffy orange cat in the house. Will not come if you call him. Will probably run and hide. Most likely under a bed. Grab him by the belly & run. He doesn't have front claws & isn't limber enough to really reach around and get you. But don't forget about him. He's pretty awesome & we want to keep him."

We laughed, but I still wonder what I'd save and what I'd realistically be able to. I don't know that I'd be able to, but as long as I'd have my family, I'd be whole.

PS: For those looking for Fall - Vermont has it. It will be in the 40's Wednesday night here in Burlington. I'll send a little your way.

Friday, September 10, 2010

As well as can be expected when you know walking in that varicose veins run in your family & you've already got them.

I learned quite a bit while I was there. Like the fact that all the things I'm currently doing to try & keep my legs as healthy as possible are the right things to do.

Elevate your legs after a long day? Check.Take ibuprofen for pain? Check.Walk to help increase blood flow? Check.

With all that, however, my insurance company requires a 3 month period of "conservative therapy". Which means that while I've been doing everything I should be that any corrective therapy (vein work) can't be done until I've worn a pair of medical grade compression stockings for 3 months.

The height of fashion, I tell you.

Thank God Fall is here, otherwise I wouldn't survive wearing these in the heat.

I'm supposed to wear these every day. Take a moment and envision me in these with my running shorts on working out.

Laughing yet? I am.

Probably not going to happen.

I will however, wear them as often as I can, especially when flying and when I'll be on my feet all day facilitating.

I found myself looking at these last night and thinking that if I could dye them jet black, I could potentially pull off the legging look with them. Then I remembered the pair of leggings I tried on in Target. Perhaps I was onto something there.

When I attempted to put these on this morning, I thought it would be a breeze. Like pulling on a pair of thick tights.

I forgot these are almost 40% spandex. Hahahahaha.

As I was bending and twisting and pulling and grunting Hayden & Pepe Cat sat in the doorway with their heads bent to the side. I'm sure they were wondering what I was doing that caused me to bend in funny positions and mutter obscenities under my breath.

I tugged & they didn't move.

I pulled and pulled. Not an inch.

I remembered the blue "helper" I was given to get them on. I used that to shroud my foot.

They moved an inch or so.

I scrunched down (anyone getting the vision of scrunchy socks?) and then attempted to smooth out.

Worked a bit more.

Finally, 15 minutes after I started they were on.

I looked ridiculous. My legs felt like sausages squeezed tight in a casing.

My legs were completely compressed...or encased, whichever way you want to think about it.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

The last time I posted, it was all about legs. This is something that has been on my mind a lot lately.

While I have good legs (they get me where I need to go, I can take Hayden for walks, squats and lunges may be the bain of my existence, but I can do them), I don't have great legs.

When you look at my legs from the front, they're fine. Take a look from behind & on my left calf you'll see the beginnings of varicose veins.

These are caused by a myriad of reasons and I seem to have been hit with a few of them. Genetics, long periods of standing, poor circulation, etc. There have been days recently when after a full day of facilitation, I look down at my calf and the veins are bulging.

And y'all, it hurts. I mean, seriously hurts.

So I'm going today for a consultation with a vein specialist here in Charlotte to see about what I can do.